I'm still on an odyssey to select a complete set of Beethoven's quartets, not necessarily HIP (does one even exist?!) I do have a problem with excessive use of vibrato, which a lot of the old 'classic' quartets employ. Is this the so-called "colour" that reviewers often cite? I find it grating and that it distracts from the flow of the music. But, then, so does this chap.
I've already settled on the Artemis Quartet (Virgin Classics) recent cycle, which is still very pricey, so I spent a few hours yesterday trawling through the usual resources (various Amazons, allmusic.com, Spotify, YouTube) to sample some of the names that often crop up in forums and reviews. It's surprising how many of the big hitters (Végh '52 and 70s, Talich) are hard to get hold of without paying hundreds of pounds/dollars/euros - on CD, at least.
Anyway, here are some discoveries that may be of interest:
1) Vermeer Quartet: Beethoven String Quartets Nos 1 - 16 - very little vibrato, very clean sound (re-mastered on Warner Classics) - the main complaint seems to be not employing the full range of available dynamics (ppp, ff, etc.) I have to say I like what I heard, although there is some extraneous noise (heavy breathing? bowing?) in quieter passages. It's available to hear on Spotify. A good price, too. £20
2) Borodin Quartet (Chandos) Beethoven: String Quartets - pricey (as are all Chandos CDs), gorgeous sound, judicious use of vibrato. I already have an earlier CD of Beethoven string quartets on Virgin Classics - a real treasure, esp. op.132. I'll probably invest in this at some point.
3) The Smetana Quartet Beethoven: String Quartets Nos 11-16 often gets cited as being special. I'm interested by this. Again, vibrato seems judicious not excessive. There are short samples on Amazon mp3 page or Allmusic.
4) Finally, the much-vaunted Talich Quartet cycle seems to be coming back on 9 October 2012. There's an announcement to pre-order it here on Amazon.fr.
Voilà!
So, I'm almost certainly going to invest (or get someone to invest for me for b'day/Christmas) in the Artemis Quartet cycle and the Borodin Quartet cycle on Chandos. Vermeer and Smetana are very interesting possibilities, though I'd like to hear more first. And I'll be interested to hear anyone's thoughts on the Talich cycle.
P.S. I didn't mention Hagen Quartet(t), whose back catalogue of Beethoven quartets is a) incomplete and b) spread over many CDs no longer available. I also didn't mention the HIP Quatuor Mosaïques, whose op.18 is well worth getting, as its not a complete set. We can only hope...
I've already settled on the Artemis Quartet (Virgin Classics) recent cycle, which is still very pricey, so I spent a few hours yesterday trawling through the usual resources (various Amazons, allmusic.com, Spotify, YouTube) to sample some of the names that often crop up in forums and reviews. It's surprising how many of the big hitters (Végh '52 and 70s, Talich) are hard to get hold of without paying hundreds of pounds/dollars/euros - on CD, at least.
Anyway, here are some discoveries that may be of interest:
1) Vermeer Quartet: Beethoven String Quartets Nos 1 - 16 - very little vibrato, very clean sound (re-mastered on Warner Classics) - the main complaint seems to be not employing the full range of available dynamics (ppp, ff, etc.) I have to say I like what I heard, although there is some extraneous noise (heavy breathing? bowing?) in quieter passages. It's available to hear on Spotify. A good price, too. £20
2) Borodin Quartet (Chandos) Beethoven: String Quartets - pricey (as are all Chandos CDs), gorgeous sound, judicious use of vibrato. I already have an earlier CD of Beethoven string quartets on Virgin Classics - a real treasure, esp. op.132. I'll probably invest in this at some point.
3) The Smetana Quartet Beethoven: String Quartets Nos 11-16 often gets cited as being special. I'm interested by this. Again, vibrato seems judicious not excessive. There are short samples on Amazon mp3 page or Allmusic.
4) Finally, the much-vaunted Talich Quartet cycle seems to be coming back on 9 October 2012. There's an announcement to pre-order it here on Amazon.fr.
Voilà!
So, I'm almost certainly going to invest (or get someone to invest for me for b'day/Christmas) in the Artemis Quartet cycle and the Borodin Quartet cycle on Chandos. Vermeer and Smetana are very interesting possibilities, though I'd like to hear more first. And I'll be interested to hear anyone's thoughts on the Talich cycle.
P.S. I didn't mention Hagen Quartet(t), whose back catalogue of Beethoven quartets is a) incomplete and b) spread over many CDs no longer available. I also didn't mention the HIP Quatuor Mosaïques, whose op.18 is well worth getting, as its not a complete set. We can only hope...
- apologies to Thropple!
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